Matt S. is the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of DDNet. He's been writing about games for over 20 years, including a book, but is perhaps best-known for being the high priest of the Church of Hatsune Miku.
I have wanted to get back into Final Fantasy XIV for quite some time. I am a massive fan of everything it offers, from the art direction to the scope of the world and adventures that are held within it. I love the way that it handles narrative within the MMO format, and the massive range of locations to visit.…
Was Defender of the Crown the first “4X” strategy game to come from Western developers? I know it’s not a proper 4X, as several of the “Xes” are severely undercooked or nonexistent, and Japan’s Nobunaga’s Ambition beat it to market by several years, but when you look at it, you…
There was a time when visual novels were a rare thing in…
It’s been three years since the last Fire Emblem (Engage). In a…
I’m a big fan of itch.io for the freedom and open platform that it allows for developers to be creative, experimental, and directly canvas the audience for feedback for games that are not yet ready for primetime on Steam and its ilk. In addition, itch.io allows you to be transgressive,…
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We’re feeling generous this weekend – perhaps because it’s Independence Day weekend for our friends over in America. Regardless, we are giving all of our readers the chance to enjoy one of this year’s Dee Dee Zines if they haven’t yet, totally, 100%, no-catches free. All you need to do…
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Perfect Gold: The Alchemy Of Happiness highlights just how mundane love and romance can be. I don’t mean that in a negative sense, though. Far too often in the arts romance, as a subject, either deviates toward smutty eroticism or overly sentimental tear-jerking. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either of…
Read MoreCapcom’s previous retro fighting game compilation, 2018’s Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, was an excellent and loving historical record of Capcom’s most valuable property. Four years later the company has done much the same thing with the Capcom Fighting Collection… but if anything I think this is the superior option…
Read MoreCFK is a publisher I enjoy a great deal. It’s the company that brought us the cute fanservice of Nekopara on Switch, and the Princess Maker games are a hoot as well. But this new one that the company has just announced is… Well, it’s sure something. From the press…
Read MoreSquare Enix has announced the release date for the latest in the Star Ocean series. Star Ocean: The Divine Force will launch on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, PC (via Steam) on October 27 worldwide. Sadly, no Switch release, which is a big pity. The publisher…
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The PlayStation Plus Deluxe service launched with a lot of very big games. From Sony’s massive blockbuster catalogue, to some of the biggest games from Ubisoft, 2K Games, Rockstar and others, you’re more than covered if you’re a fan of the big games. However, people keep telling me that one…
Read MoreThe biggest problem with Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel is that it lacks an identity of its own. The developers are clearly fans and students of the horror genre, stretching all the way back to Resident Evil, and have done a passable job of building a warm homage to it.…
Read MoreLet’s be realistic here; there’s never going to be a kart racing party game that competes with Nintendo. There are a lot of things that Nintendo can be beaten at – RPGs, puzzlers, adventure games, action games, and even platformers. But nothing will ever unseat Mario Kart. That’s not to…
Read MoreWe all know wuxia, right? The beautifully elegant form of Chinese martial art cinema (and other forms) that have dance-like, gravity-defying choreographed fights? Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and all the rest of them? That’s what Code: To Jin Yong is looking to capture and… well I hate to nosedive into…
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